THE 



CIVIL EECORD 



OP 



ill GENERAL 111 S. HANCOCK 



DURING HIS ADMINISTRATION IN 



LOUISIANA AND TEXAS. 



" The right of trial by Jury, the Habeas 
Corpus, the Liberty of the Press, the Freedom 
of Speech, the Natural Rights of Persons, and 
the Rights of Property, must be preserved" — 

Extract from the Order of Gen. Hancock, of Nov. 29, 1867. 



1871. 



THE 



CIVIL EECOED 



OF 



MAJOR GENERAL fill S, HANCOCK 



DURING HIS ADMINISTRATION IN 



LOUISIANA AND TEXAS. 



V 







" The right of trial by Jury, the Habeas 
Corpus, the Liberty of the Press, the Freedom 
of Speech, the Natural Rights of Persons, and 
the Rights of Property, must be preserved," — 

Extract from the Order of Gen. Hancock, of Nov. 29, 1867. 









1871. 



THE CIVIL RECORD 

OF 

MAJOR-GENERAL WINFIELD S. HANCOCK, 

DURING HIS ADMINISTRATION IN LOUISIANA AND TEXAS. 



THE object of this pamphlet is to direct the attention of those whom, 
for political or other reasons, it may concern, to the services 
of General Hancock in maintaining the civil rights of the citizen 
during a trying period in the history of our country. It is not in- 
tended to enforce this view by many comments, but mainly by a re- 
publication of some of General Hancock's own orders and official 
letters, issued by him when commander of the Fifth Military District. 
The documents selected are but a few out of a voluminous mass of 
similar material. But they will be sufficient to illustrate the principles 
upon which his administration of public affairs was conduc'ed. 

It is well known that General, Hancock has never sought political 
preferment, that his promotion in the army has been by merit alone, 
and that for his political principles he has been content to suffer per- 
secution. His prominence before the Democratic National Convention 
in 1868, was not brought about by any interference of his own; but 
solely from the public sense of his availability. The frequent men- 
tion of his name in connection with the next Presidential nomination, 
renders it desirable that his qualifications for government should be 
understood. Apart, however, from politics, and whether he should 
receive the nomination of his party for civil office or not, still, if when 
clothed with great authority, he used it with wisdom, firmness, and 
moderation, for the good of the people, and in obedience to the Con- 
stitution of his country, in a time of great trial, it is but just that his 
example should have honorable mention and remembrance among his 
fellow-citizens. 

This publication will, therefore, need no further apology. 

When General Hancock was assigned to the command of the Fifth 
Military District, he became, under the Reconstruction Laws of Con- 
gress, the absolute ruler of two States — Louisiana and Texas. He had 
the power to remove civil magistrates, to suppress the local tribunals, 

3 



4 

to establish military commissions, and to suspend the civil laws. He 
continued in this responsible position, with his headquarters at New 
Orleans, from November, 1867, until March 16th, 1868, when, in 
consequence of General Grant's interference with his administration, 
he was relieved at his own request. What he did during these event- 
ful months, was not as a leader of troops, but almost wholly in the ex- 
ercise of his duties and authority as the supreme governor of the two 
States included within his jurisdiction. He has, therefore, not only a 
civil record, but such a civil record as is best calculated to illustrate his 
character as a citizen, and his qualifications as a statesman. Because, 
being invested with powers which subjected him to scarcely any other 
restraint than his own discretion, his administration must be considered 
in more than an ordinary degree characteristic of the mental and moral 
qualities of the man. 

It will be remembered that at the time General Hancock was ap- 
pointed to this position, Congress had parcelled out the South into a 
number of military despotisms, based upon the assumption that the 
people of that section of the Union had forfeited their constitutional 
liberties, and had no longer any civil rights which a military satrap 
was bound to respect. But when General Hancock assumed personal 
command of his military province, his first act was to issue an official 
order from his headquarters at New Orleans, proclaiming that the 
Constitution had survived the war, and was still the rightful inher- 
itance of all the people. 

This noble document is in the following words : 

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 
GENE No L 4i) RDERS } New 0rleans > La -> November 29, 1867. 

I. In accordance with general orders No. 81, Headquarters of the 
Army, Adjutant General's Office, Washington, D. C, August 27th, 
1867, Major-General W. S. Hancock hereby assumes command of 
the Fifth Military District, and of the Department composed of the 
States of Louisiana and Texas. 

II. The General Commanding is gratified to learn that peace and 
quiet reign in this Department. It will be his purpose to preserve this 
condition of things. As a means to this great end he regards the 
maintenance of the civil authorities in the faithful execution of the 
laws as the most efficient under existing circumstances. 

In war it is indispensable to repel force by force, and overthrow 
and destroy opposition to lawful authority. But when insurrectionary 
force has been overthrown and peace established, and the civil author- 
ities are ready and willing to perform their duties, the military power 



should cease to lead, and the civil administration resume its natural 
and rightful dominion. Solemnly impressed with these views, the 
General announces that the great principles of American liberty are 
still the lawful inheritance of this people, and ever should be. The 
right of trial by jury, the habeas corpus, the liberty of the press, the 
freedom of speech, the natural rights of persons, and the rights of 
property must be preserved. 

Free institutions, while they are essential to the prosperity and hap- 
piness of the people, always furnish the strongest inducements to 
peace and order. Crimes and offences committed in this district 
must be referred to the consideration and judgment of the regular 
civil tribunals, and those tribunals will be supported in their lawful 
jurisdiction. 

Should there be violations of existing laws which are not inquired 
into by the civil magistrates, or should failures in the administration 
of justice by the courts be complained of, the cases will be reported to 
these headquarters, when such orders will be made as may be deemed 
necessary. 

While the General thus indicates his purpose to respect the liberties 
of the people, he wishes all to understand that armed insurrection or 
forcible resistance to the law will be instantly suppressed by arms. 

By command of Major-General W. S. Hancock. 
[Official.] 



General Hancock's celebrated letter to Governor Pease 

of Texas. 

No apology is offered for the republication in full of the following 
admirable letter, written and published by General Hancock toward 
the close of his administration at New Orleans, in reply to the appli- 
cation of Governor Pease, of Texas, for the establishment of military 
commissions in that State. It deserves a careful reading, and in it may 
be found a triumphant vindication of the principles upon which General 
Hancock conducted his administration. No conservative citizen can 
read it without being impressed with the soundness of the writer's 
political principles, the firmness and independence of his character, 
the excellence of his judgment, his statesmanlike ability and manlj 
patriotism. 



HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 

New Orleans, La., March 9, 18G8. 

To His Excellency E. M. Pease, Governor of Texas : 

Sir — Your communication of the 17th January last, was received 
in due course of mail, (the 27th January,) but not until it had been 
widely circulated by the newspaper press. To such a letter — written 
and published for manifest purposes — it has been my intention to 
reply as soon as leisure from more important business would permit. 

Your statement that the act of Congress " to provide for the more 
efficient government of the rebel States," declares that whatever gov- 
ernment existed in Texas was provisional ; that peace and order should 
be enforced ; that Texas should be part of the Fifth Military District, 
and subject to military power; that the President should appoint an 
officer to command in said district, and detail a force to protect the 
rights of person and property, suppress insurrection and violence, and 
punish offenders, either by military commission, or through the action 
of local civil tribunals, as in his judgment might seem best, will not 
be disputed. One need only read the act to perceive it contains such 
provisions. But how all this is supposed to have made it my duty to 
order the military commission requested, you have entirely failed to 
show. The power to do a thing if shown, and the propriety of doing 
it, are often very different matters. You observe you are at a loss to 
understand how a government, without representation in Congress, or 
a militia force, and subject to military power, can be said to be in the 
full exercise of all its proper powers. You do not reflect that this 
government, created or permitted by Congress, has all the powers 
which the act intends, and may fully exercise them accordingly. If 
you think it ought to have more powers, should be allowed to send 
members to Congress, wield a militia force, and possess yet other 
powers, your complaint is not to be preferred against me, but against 
Congress, who made it what it is. 

As respects the issue between us, any question as to what Congress 
ought to have done has no pertinence. You admit the act of Congress 
authorizes me to try an offender by military commission, or allow the 
local civil tribunals to try, as I shall deem best; and you cannot deny 
the act expressly recognizes such local civil tribunals as legal author- 
ities for the purpose specified. When you contend there arc no legal 
local tribunals for any purpose in Texas, you must either deny the 
plain reading of the act of Congress, or the power of Congress to pass 
the act. 

You next remark that you dissent from my declaration, " that the 
country (Texas) is in a state of profound peace," and proceed to state 
the grounds of your dissent. They appear to me not a little extraor- 



dinaiy. I quote your words : " It is true there no longer exists here 
(Texas) any organized resistance to the authority of the United States." 
"But a large majority of the white population who participated in the 
late rebellion, are imbittered against the Government, and yield to it 
an unwilling obedience." Nevertheless, you concede they do yield it 
obedience. You proceed : 

" None of this class have any affection for the Government, and very 
few any resj)ect for it. They regard the legislation of Congress on the 
subject of reconstruction as unconstitutional and hostile to their in- 
terests, and consider the government now existing here under authority 
of the United States as an usurpation on their rights. They look on 
the emancipation of their late slaves and the disfranchisement of a 
portion of their own class, as an act of insult and oppression." 

And this is all you have to present for proof that war and not peace 
prevails in Texas; and hence it becomes my duty — so you suppose 
— to set aside the local civil tribunals, and enforce the penal code 
against citizens by means of military commissions. 

My dear sir, I am not a lawyer, nor has it been my business, as it 
may have been yours, to study the philosophy of statecraft and politics. 
But I may lay claim, after an experience of more than half a lifetime, 
to some poor knowledge of men, and some appreciation of what is 
necessary to social order and happiness. And for the future of our 
common country, I could devoutly wish that no great number of our 
people have yet fallen in with the views you appear to entertain. 
Woe be to us whenever it shall come to pass that the power of the 
magistrate — civil or military — is permitted to deal with the mere 
opinions or feelings of the people. 

I have been accustomed to believe that sentiments of respect or dis- 
respect, and feelings of affection, love, or hatred, so long as not devel- 
oped into acts in violation of law, were matters wholly beyond the 
punitory power of human tribunals. 

I will maintain that the entire freedom of thought and speech, how- 
ever acrimoniously indulged, is consistent with the noblest aspirations 
of man, and the happiest condition of his race. 

When a boy, I remember to have read a speech of Lord Chatham, 
delivered in Parliament. It was during our Revolutionary War, and 
related to the policy of employing the savages on the side of Britain. 
You may be more familiar with the speech than I am. If I am not 
greatly mistaken, his lordship denounced the British Government — 
his government — in terms of unmeasured bitterness. He character- 
ized its policy as revolting to every sentiment of humanity and reli- 
gion; proclaimed it covered with disgrace, and vented his eternal 
abhorrence of it and its measures. It may, I think, be safely asserted 



8 

that a majority of the British nation concurred in the views of Lord 
Chatham. But who ever supposed that profound peace was not exist- 
ing in that kingdom, or that government had any authority to question 
the absolute right of the opposition to express their objections to the 
propriety of the king's measures in any words, or to any extent they 
pleased? It would be difficult to show that the opponents of the 
Government in the days of the elder Adams, or Jefferson, or Jackson, 
exhibited for it either " affection " or " respect." You are conversant 
with the history of our past parties and political struggles touching 
legislation on alienage, sedition, the embargo, national banks, our wars 
with England and Mexico, and cannot be ignorant of the fact, that 
for one party to assert that a law or system of legislation is unconstitu- 
tional, oppressive, and usurpative, is not a new thing in the United 
States. That the people of Texas consider acts of Congress unconsti- 
tutional, oppressive, or insulting to them, is of no consequence to the 
matter in hand. The President of the United States has announced 
his opinion that these acts of Congress are unconstitutional. The 
Supreme Court, as you are aware, not long ago decided unanimously 
that a certain military commission was unconstitutional. Our people 
everywhere, in every State, without reference to the side they took 
during the rebellion, differ as to the constitutionality of these acts of 
Congress. How the matter really is, neither you nor I may dogmat- 
ically affirm. 

If you deem them constitutional laws, and beneficial to the country, 
you not only have the right to publish your opinions, but it might be 
your bounden duty as a citizen to do so. Not less is it the privilege and 
duty of any and every citizen, wherever residing, to publish his opinion 
freely and fearlessly on this and every question which he thinks con- 
cerns his interest. This is merely in accordance with the principles of 
our free government ; and neither you nor I would wish to live under 
any other. It is time now, at the end of almost two years from the 
close of the war, we should begin to recollect what manner of people 
we are; to tolerate again free, popular discussion^ and extend some 
forbearance and consideration to opposing views. The maxims that 
in all intellectual contests truth is mighty, and must prevail, and that 
error is harmless when reason is left free to combat it, are not only 
sound, but salutary. It is a poor compliment to the merits of such a 
cause, that its advocates would silence opposition by force ; and gen- 
erally those only who are in the wrong will resort to this ungenerous 
means. I am confident you will not commit your serious judgment to 
the proposition that any amount of discussion, or any sort of opinions, 
however unwise in your judgment; or any assertion or feeling, how- 
ever resentful or bitter, not resulting in a breach of law, can furnish 



9 

justification for your denial that profound peace exists in Texas. You 
might as well deny that profound peace exists in New York, Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland, California, Ohio, and Kentucky, where a majority 
of the people differ with a minority on these questions ; or that pro- 
found peace exists in the House of Representatives, or the Senate, at 
Washington, or in the Supreme Court, where all these questions have 
been repeatedly discussed, and parties respectfully and patiently heard. 
You next complain that in parts of the State (Texas) it is difficult to 
enforce the criminal laws ; that sheriffs fail to arrest ; that grand jurors 
will not always indict; that in some cases the military acting in aid 
of the civil authorities have not been able to execute the process of the 
courts; that petit jurors have acquitted persons adjudged guilty by 
you ; and that other persons charged with offences have broke jail and 
fled from prosecution. I know not how these things are; but admit- 
ting your representations literally true, if for such reasons I should set 
aside the local civil tribunals and order a military commission, there 
is no place in the United States where it might not be done with equal 
propriety. There is not a State in the Union — North or South — 
where the like facts are not continually happening. Perfection is not 
to be predicated of man or his works. No one can reasonably expect 
certain and absolute justice in human transactions ; and if military 
power is to be set in motion, on the principles for which you would 
seem to contend, I fear that a civil government, regulated by laws, 
could have no abiding place beneath the circuit of the sun. It is 
rather more than hinted in your letter, that there is no local State 
government in Texas, and no local laws outside of the acts of Congress, 
which I ought to respect ; and that I should undertake to protect the 
rights of persons and property in my own way and in an arbitrary 
manner. If such be your meaning, I am compelled to differ with you. 
After the abolition of slavery, (an event which I hope no one now re- 
grets,) the laws of Louisiana and Texas existing prior to the rebellion, 
and not in conflict with the acts of Congress, comprised a vast system 
of jurisprudence, both civil and criminal. It required not volumes 
only, but libraries to contain them. They laid down principles anc 1 
precedents for ascertaining the rights and adjusting the controversies 
of men, in every conceivable case. They were the creations of great 
and good and learned men, who had labored, in their day, for their 
kind, and gone down to the grave long before our recent troubles, 
leaving their works an inestimable legacy to the human race. These 
laws, as I am informed, connected the civilization of past and present 
ages, and testified of the justice, wisdom, humanity, and patriotism of 
more than one nation, through whose records they descended to the 
present people of these States. I am satisfied, from representations of 



10 

persons competent to judge, they are as perfect a system of laws as 
may be found elsewhere, and better suited than any other to the con- 
dition of this people, for by them they have long been governed. 
Why should it be supposed Congress has abolished these laws? Why 
should any one wish to abolish them ? They have committed no 
treason, nor are hostile to the United States, nor countenance crime, 
nor favor injustice. On them, as on a foundation of rock, reposes 
almost the entire superstructure of social order in these two States. 
Annul this code of local laws, and there would be no longer any rights, 
either of person or property, here. Abolish the local civil tribunals 
made to execute them, and you would virtually annul the laws, except 
in reference to the very few cases cognizable in the federal courts. 
Let us for a moment suppose the whole local civil code annulled, and 
that I am left, as commander of the Fifth Military District, the sole 
fountain of law and justice. This is the position in which you would 
place me. 

I am now to protect all rights and redress all wrongs. How is it 
possible for me to do it? Innumerable questions arise, of which I 
am not only ignorant, but to the solution of which a military court is 
entirely unfitted. One would establish a will, another a deed ; or the 
question is one of succession, or partnership, or descent, or trust; a 
suit of ejectment or claim to chattels ; or the application may relate to 
robbery, theft, arson, or murder. How am I to take the first step in 
any such matter ? If I turn to the acts of Congress I find nothing 
on the subject. I dare not open the authors on the local code, for it 
has ceased to exist. 

And you tell me that in this perplexing condition I am to furnish, 
by dint of my own hasty and crude judgment, the legislation de- 
manded by the vast and manifold interests of the people ! I repeat, 
sir, that you, and not Congress, are responsible for the monstrous sug- 
gestion that there are no local laws or institutions here to be respected 
by me, outside the acts of Congress. I say unhesitatingly, if it were 
possible that Congress should pass an act abolishing the local codes 
for Louisiana and Texas — which I do not believe — and it should 
fall to my lot to supply their places with something of my own, I do 
not see how I could do better than follow the laws in force here prior 
to the rebellion, excepting whatever therein shall relate to slavery. 
Power may destroy the forms, but not the principles of justice; these 
will live in spite even of the sword. History tells us that the Roman 
pandects were lost for a long period among the rubbish that war and 
revolution had heaped upon them, but at length were dug out of the 
ruins — again to be regarded as a precious treasure. 

You are pleased to state that "^ince the publication of .'my) gen- 



11 

eral orders No. 40, there has been a perceptible increase of crime and 
manifestation of hostile feeling toward the Government and its sup- 
porters," and add that it is " an unpleasant duty to give such a recital 
of the condition of the country." 

You will permit me to say that I deem it impossible the first of 
these statements can be true, and that I do very greatly doubt the cor- 
rectness of the second. General orders No. 40 was issued at New 
Orleans, November 29, 1867, and your letter was dated January 17, 
1868. Allowing time for order No. 40 to reach Texas and become 
generally known, some additional time must have elapsed before its 
effect would be manifested, and a yet further time must transpire 
before you would be able to collect the evidence of what you term 
" the condition of the country ; " and yet, after all this, you would 
have to make the necessary investigations to ascertain if order No. 40 
or something else was the cause. The time, therefore, remaining to 
enable you, before the 17th of January, 1868, to reach a satisfactory 
conclusion on so delicate and nice a question must have been very 
short. How you proceeded, whether you investigated yourself or 
through third persons, and if so, who they were, what their compe- 
tency and fairness, on what evidence you rested your conclusion, or 
whether you ascertained any facts at all, are points upon which your 
letter so discreetly omits all mention, that I may well be excused for 
not relying implicitly upon it ; nor is my difficulty diminished by the 
fact that in another part of your letter you state that ever since the 
close of the war a very large portion of the people have had no affec- 
tion for the Government, but bitterness of feeling only. Had the duty 
of publishing and circulating through the country long before it 
reached me, your statement that the action of the district commander 
was increasing crime and hostile feeling; against the Government, been 
less painful to your sensibilities, it might possibly have occurred to 
you to furnish something on the subject in addition to your bare 
assertion. 

But what was order No. 40, and how could it have the effect you 
attribute to it ? It sets forth that " the great principles of American 
liberty are still the inheritance of this people and ever should be, 
that the right of trial by jury, the habeas corpus, the liberty of the 
press, the freedom of speech, and the natural rights of person and 
property must be preserved." Will you question the truth of these 
declarations ? Which one of these great principles of liberty are you 
ready to deny and repudiate ? Whoever does so avows himself the 
enemy of human liberty and the advocate of despotism. Was there 
any intimation in general orders No. 40 that any crimes or breaches 
of law would be countenanced ? You know that there was not. On 



12 > 

the contrary, you know perfectly well that while " the consideration 
of crime and offences committed in the Fifth Military District was 
referred to the judgment of the regular civil tribunals," a pledge was 
given in order No. 40, which all understood, that tribunals would be 
supported in their lawful jurisdiction, and that " forcible resistance to 
law would be instantly suppressed by arms." You will not affirm that 
this pledge has ever been forfeited. There has not been a moment 
since I have been in command of the Fifth District, when the whole 
military force in my hands has not been ready to support the civil 
authorities of Texas in the execution of the laws. And I am unwill- 
ing to believe they would refuse to call for aid if they needed it. 

There are some considerations which, it seems to me, should cause 
you to hesitate before indulging in wholesale censures against the civil 
authorities of Texas. You are yourself the chief of these authorities, 
not elected by the people, but created by the military. Not long after 
you had thus come into office, all the judges of the Supreme Court of 
Texas — five in number — were removed from office, and new appoint- 
ments made: twelve of the seventeen district judges were removed, 
and others appointed. County officers, more or less, in seventy-five 
out of one hundred and twenty-eight counties, were removed, and 
others appointed in their places. It is fair to conclude that the execu- 
tive and judicial civil functionaries in Texas are the persons whom you 
desired to fill the offices. It is proper to mention, also, that none but 
registered citizens, and only those who could take the test oath, have 
been allowed to serve as jurors during your administration. Now, it 
is against this local government, created by military power prior to 
my coming here, and so composed of your personal and political 
friends, that you have preferred the most grievous complaints. It is 
of them that you have asserted they will not do their duty ; they will 
not maintain justice; will not arrest offenders; will not punish crimes; 
and that out of one hundred homicides committed in the last twelve 
months, not over ten arrests have been made ; and by means of such 
gross disregard of duty, you declare that neither property nor life is 
safe in Texas. 

Certainly you could have said nothing more to the discredit of the 
officials who are now in office. If the facts be as you allege, a mys- 
tery is presented for which I can imagine no exjjlanation. Why is it 
that your political friends, backed up and sustained by the whole mil- 
itary power of the United States in this district, should be unwilling 
to enforce the laws against that part of the population lately in rebel- 
lion, and whom you represent as the offenders? In all the history of 
these troubles, I have never seen or heard before of such a fact. I 
repeat, if the fact be so, it is a profound mystery, utterly surpassing 



13 

my comprehension. I am constrained to declare that I believe you 
are in very great error as to facts. On careful examination at *he 
proper source, I find that at the date of your letter four cases only of 
homicides had been reported to these headquarters as having occurred 
since November 29, 1867, the date of order 40, and these cases were 
ordered to be tried or investigated as soon as the reports were received. 
However, the fact of the one hundred homicides may still be correct, 
as stated by you. The Freedmen's Bureau in Texas reported one hun- 
dred and sixty ; how many of these were by Indians and Mexicans, 
and how the remainder were classified, is not known, nor is it known 
whether these data are accurate. 

The report of the commanding officer of the District of Texas shows 
that since I assumed command no applications have been made to him 
by you for the arrest of criminals in the State of Texas. 

To this date eighteen cases of homicides have been reported to me 
as having occurred since November 29, 1867, although special instruc- 
tions had been given to report such cases as they occur. Of these, 
five were committed by Indians, one by a Mexican, one by an insane 
man, three by colored men, two of women by their husbands, and of the 
remainder some by parties unknown — all of which could be scarcely 
attributable to order No. 40. If the reports received since the issuing 
of order No. 40 are correct, they exhibit no increase of homicides in 
my time, if you are correct that one hundred had occurred in the past 
twelve months. 

That there has not been a perfect administration of justice in Texas 
I am not prepared to deny. 

That there has been no such wanton disregard of duty on the part 
of officials, as you allege, I am well satisfied. A very little while 
ago you regarded the present officials in Texas the only ones who 
could be safely trusted with power. Now you pronounce them worth- 
less, and would cast them aside. 

I have found little else in your letter but indications of temper, 
lashed into excitement by causes which I deem mostly imaginary, a 
great confidence in the accuracy of your own opinions, and an intoler- 
ance of the opinions of others, a desire to punish the thoughts and 
feelings of those who differ from you, and an impatience which magni- 
fies the shortcomings of officials who are perhaps as earnest and con- 
scientious in the discharge of their duties as yourself, and a most 
unsound conclusion that while any persons are to be found wanting in 
affection or respect for government, or yielding it obedience from 
motives which you do not approve, war, and not peace, is the status, 
and all such persons are the proper subjects for military penal juris- 
diction. 



14 

If I have written anything to disabuse your mind of so grave an 
error, I shall be gratified. 

I am, sir, very respectfully your obedient servant. 

W. S. Hancock, 
Major-General Commanding. 



Order of General Hancock revoking a summary re- 
moval from office, made by his predecessor, and 
referring the complaint to the judicial tribunals. 

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 

Sl>E No L 2?2 RDERS } NeW 0rleans > La -> December 4, 1867. 

[extract.] 

2. Paragraph 3, of special orders No. 188, from these headquarters, 
dated November 16th, 1867, issued by Brevet Major-General Mower, 
removing P. R. O'Rourke, Clerk of Second District Court, Parish of 
Orleans, for malfeasance in office, and appointing R. L. Shelly in his 
stead, is hereby revoked, and P. R. O'Rourke is reinstated in said 
office. 

If any charges are set up against the said O'Rourke, the judicial 
department of the government is sufficient to take whatever action 
may be necessary in the premises. 

By command of Major-General Hancock. 
[Official.] 



Order of General Hancock revoking the order of his 
predecessor which interfered with the selection of 
jurors; and defining the true and proper use of 
military power* 

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 

Stkctal Orders 1 XT _ , „ . - ,„,,.. 

No °03 i ^ EW Orleans, La., Decembers, 180/ . 

[extract.] 

2. The true and proper use of military power, besides defending the 
national honor against foreign nations, is to uphold the laws and civil 



15 

government, and to secure to every person residing among us, the 
enjoyment of life, liberty, and property. It is accordingly made, by 
act of Congress, the duty of the commander of this district to protect 
all persons in those rights, to suppress disorder and violence, and to 
punish, or cause to be punished, all disturbers of the public peace and 
criminals. 

The Commanding General has been officially informed that the ad- 
ministration of justice, and especially of criminal justice, in the courts, 
is clogged, if not entirely frustrated, by the enforcement of paragraph 
No. 2, of the military order numbered special orders 125, current 
series, from these headquarters, issued on the 24th of August, A. D. 
1867, relative to the qualifications of persons to be placed on the jury 
lists of the State of Louisiana. 

To determine who shall, and who shall not be jurors, appertains to 
the legislative power ; and until the laws in existence regulating this 
subject shall be amended or changed by that department of the civil 
government, which the constitutions of all the States under our repub- 
lican system vest with that power, it is deemed best to carry out the 
will of the people as expressed in the last legislative act upon this 
subject. 

The qualification of a juror, under the law, is a proper subject for 
the decision of the courts. The Commanding General, in the discharge 
of the trust reposed in him, will maintain the just power of the judi- 
ciary, and is unwilling to permit the civil authorities and laws to be 
embarrassed by military interference ; and as it is an established fact 
that the administration of justice iu the ordinary tribunals is greatly 
embarrassed by the operations of paragraph No. 2, special orders No. 
125, current series, from these headquarters, it is ordered that said 
paragraph, which relates to the qualifications of persons to be placed 
on the jury lists of the State of Louisiana, be, and the same is hereby 
revoked, and that the trial by jury be, henceforth, regulated and con- 
trolled by the Constitution and civil laws, without regard to any mil- 
itary orders heretofore issued from these headquarters. 

By command of Major-General Hancock. 
[Official.] 



16 

Order sustaining the jurisdiction of the civil courts 
over the rights of private property, 

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 

SPEC J AL o?i RDERS \ New Orleans, La., December 16, 1867. 

No. 211. J 

EXTRACT. 

4. Paragraph 3, of special orders No. 197, current series, from 
these headquarters, issued by Brevet Major-General J. A. Mower, in 
the matter of the estate of D. B. Staats, is hereby revoked, the local 
tribunals possessing ample power for the protection of all parties con- 
cerned. The property in dispute will be restored to the possession of 
the party entitled to the same by order of court. 

By command of Major-General Hancock. 
[Official.] 



Order to secure the purity of elections, and to prevent 
military interference at the polls, 

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT 

Special Orders 1 New Orleans, La., December 18, 1867. 

No. 213. / 

EXTRACT. 

I. In compliance with the supplementary act of Congress of March 
23d, 1867, notice is hereby given that an election will be held in the 
State of Texas, on the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th days of Feb- 
ruary, 1868, to determine whether a convention shall be held, and for 
delegates thereto, " to form a constitution " for the State uuder said act. 

IX. Military interference with elections, " unless it shall be neces- 
sary to keep the peace at the polls," is prohibited by law, and no sol- 
diers will be allowed to appear at any polling place, unless as citizens 
of the State they are registered as voters, and then only for the pur- 
pose of voting ; but the commanders of posts will be prepared to act 
promptly if the civil authorities fail to preserve the peace. 

X. The sheriff and other peace officers of each county, are required 
to be present during the whole time the polls are kept open, and until 
the election is completed, and will be made responsible that there shall 
be no interference with judges of election, or other interruption of good 
order. 



17 

As an additional measure to secure the purity of the election, each 
registrar or clerk is hereby clothed, during the election, with authority 
to call upon the civil officers of the county to make arrests, and in case 
of failure of the aforesaid civil officers, are empowered to perform their 
duties, during the election. They will make full report of such fail- 
ures on the part of civil officers, to the Commanding General, Fifth 
Military District, through the headquarters, District of Texas, for 
orders in each case. 

By command of Major-General Hancock. 
[Official.] 



Oil the stay of civil jwocess. 

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 
Office of Secretary for Civil Affairs, 
New Orleans, La., December 20, 1807. 

The Hon. E. Heath, Mayor of NeAv Orleans : 

Sir — In answer to your communication of the 30th ult., requesting 
his intervention in staying proceedings in suits against the city on 
its notes, the Major-General Commanding directs me to respectfully 
submit his views to you on that subject, as follows : 

Such a proceeding on his part would, in fact, be a stay-law in favor 
of the city of New Orleans, which, under the Constitution, could not 
be enacted by the Legislature of the State, and in his judgment such 
a power ought to be exercised by him, if at all, only in a case of the 
most urgent necessity. 

That the notes referred to were issued originally in violation of the 
charter of the city, cannot be denied ; but the illegal act has since 
been ratified by the Legislature. The Corporation is therefore bound 
to pay them; and even if a defence could be made on techaical grounds, 
it would be disgraceful for the city to avail itself of it. Why, then, 
should the creditors of the city be prevented from resorting to the 
means given them to enforce the obligation ? 

In support of your application you state that the city is unable to 
pay its debts. This is, unfortunately, the case with most debtors ; and 
on that ground nearly all other debtors would be equally entitled to 
the same relief. 

The Supreme Cour}; of this State has decided that taxes due a mu- 
nicipal corporation cannot be seized, under execution, by a creditor 
of the corporation, nor is any other property used for municipal pur- 



18 

poses liable to seizure. If, therefore, .-. constable levies an execution 
on such property, he is a trespasser, and the city has its remedy against 
him in the proper tribunal. 

It does not, therefore, seem to the Major-General Commanding that 
there is an urgent necessity which would justify his interference in the 
manner required. Besides, the expediency of such a measure is more 
than questionable; for, instead of reinstating the confidence of the 
public in city notes, it would probably destroy it altogether. 

I am, sir, very respectfully your obedient servant, 

W. G. Mitchell, 
Bvt. Lieut. -Col., U. S. A., Sec'y for Civil Affairs. 



On the trial of offenders against the laws of the State. 

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 
Office of Secretary for Civil Affairs, 
New Orleans, La., December 28, 18G7. 
His Excellency E. M. Pease, Governor of Texas : 

Sir — Brevet Major-General J. J. Reynolds, commanding District 
of Texas, in a communication dated Austin, Texas, November 19, 
1867, requests that a military commission may be ordered "for the 
trial of one G. W. Wall, and such other prisoners as may be brought 
before it," and forwards, in support of the request, the following 
papers : 

1st. A printed account taken from a newspaper dated Uvalde, Oc- 
tober , 1867, (contained in a letter of James H. Taylor, and in 

another from Dr. Ansell, U. S. Surgeon at Fort Inge,) of the murder 

of R. W. Black, on the day of October, 1867. In this account 

it is stated Mr. Black was shot through the heart by G. W. Wall 
" while lying on the counter at Mr. Thomas's store." 

2d. A letter of Judge G. H. Noonan to Governor Pease, dated No- 
vember 10, 1867, informing him that " Wall, Thacker, and Pulliam 
are in confinement in Uvalde County for murder." In this letter it 
is asked, " Would it not be best to try them by military commis- 
sion ? " 

3d. A letter from Governor Pease, dated " Executive of Texas, 
Austin, November 11, 1867," in which the Governor states that he 
received a telegram from Judge G. H. Noonan, an extract from which 
I transmit herewith." In the letter of the Governor the further 
statement is made that " Uvalde County, where the prisoners are con- 
fined, is on the extreme western frontier of the State, and has only 
about one hundred voters in a territory of about nine hundred squari 



19 

miles," and he then add?., ,( It is not probable that they (meaning the 
prisoners) can be kept in confinement long enough ever to be tried by 
the civil courts of that county;" and expresses the opinion that they 
never " can be brought to trial unless it is done before a military com- 
mission." And he therefore asks that a military commission be 
ordered for their trial. 

From an examination of the papers submitted to the commander 
of the Fifth Military District, it does not appear that there is any in- 
disposition or unwillingness on the part of the local civil tribunals to 
take jurisdiction of, and to try the prisoners in question ; and a sug- 
gestion made by the Governor that it is not probable the prisoners 
can be kept in confinement long enough to be tried by the civil courts, 
(and which is apparently based on the fact that Uvalde County is a 
frontier county, and does not contain more than a hundred voters,) 
seems to be the«only foundation on which the request for the creation 
of a military commission is based. This, in the opinion of the com- 
manding general, is not sufficient to justify him in the exercise of the 
extraordinary power vested in him by law " to organize military com- 
missions or tribunals " for the trial of persons charged with offences 
against the laws of a State. 

It is true that the third section of "An Act to provide for the more 
efficient government of the Rebel States," makes it the duty of the 
commanders of military districts " to punish, or cause to 1 e punished, 
all disturbers of the public peace and criminals;" but the same section 
also declares that " to that end he may allow local civil tribunals to 
take jurisdiction of, and to try offenders." The further power given 
to him in the same section, "when in his judgment it may be necessary 
for the trial of offenders," to organize military commissions for that 
purpose, is an extraordinary power, and from its very nature should 
be exercised for the trial of offenders against the laws of a State only 
in the extraordinary event that the local civil tribunals are unwilling 
or unable to enforce the laws against crimes. 

At this time the country is in a state of profound peace. The State 
Government of Texas, organized in subordination to the authority of 
the Government of the United States, is in the full exercise of all its 
proper powers. The courts, duly empowered to administer the laws, 
and to punish all offenders against those laws, are in existence. No 
unwillingness on the part of these courts is suggested to inquire into 
the offences with which the prisoners in question are charged, nor are 
any obstructions whatever in the way of enforcing the laws against 
them said to exist. Under such circumstances there is no good ground 
for the exercise of the extraordinary power vested in the commander 
to organize a military commission for the trial of the persons named. 



20 

It must be a matter of profound regret to all who value constitu- 
tional o-ovcrnment, that there should be occasions in times of civil 
commotion, when the public good imperatively requires the interven- 
tion of the military power for the repression of disorders in the body 
politic, and for the punishment of offences against the existing laws 
of a country framed for the preservation of social order ; but that the 
intervention of this power should be called for, or even suggested, by 
civil magistrates, when the laws are no longer silent and civil magis- 
trates are possessed, in their respective spheres, of all the powers 
necessary to give effect to the laws, excites the surprise of the com- 
mander of the Fifth Military District. 

In his view it is of evil example, and full of danger to the cause 
of freedom and good government, that the exercise of the military 
power, through military tribunals created for the trial of offences 
against the civil law, should ever be permitted, when the ordinary 
powers of the existing State Governments are ample for the punish- 
ment of offenders, if those charged with the administration of the 
laws are faithful in the discharge of their duties. 

If the means at the disposal of the State authorities are insufficient 
to secure the confinement of the persons named in the communication 
of the Governor of the State of Texas to the general commanding 
there, until they can be legally tried, on the fact being made known 
to him, the commander of the district will supply the means to retain 
them in confinement, and the commanding officer of the troops in 
Texas is so authorized to act. If there are reasons in existence which 
justify an apprehension that the prisoners cannot be fairly tried in 
that county, let the proper civil officers have the " venue " changed 
for the trial, as provided for by the laws of Texas. 

In the opinion of the commander of the Fifth Military District, the 
existing government of the State of Texas possesses all the powers 
necessary for the proper and prompt trial of the prisoners in question 
in due course of law. 

If these powers are not exercised for that purpose, the failure to 
exercise them can be attributed only to the indolence or culpable ineffi- 
ciency of the officers now charged with the execution and enforcement 
of the laws under the authority of the State Government; and if 
there is such a failure, in the instance mentioned, on the part of those 
officers to execute the laws, it will then become the duty of the com- 
mander to remove the officers who fail to discharge the duties imposed 
on them, and to replace them with others who will discharge them. 

Should these means fail, and it be found, on further experience, that 
there are not a sufficient number of persons among the people now 
exercising political power in Texas, to supply the public with officers 



21 

who will enforce the laws of the State, it will then become necessary 
for the commander of the Fifth Military District to exercise the powers 
vested in him, by the acts of Congress under which he is appointed, 
for the purpose of vindicating the majesty of the law. But until such 
necessity is shown to exist, it is not the intention of the commanding 
geueral to have recourse to those powers ; and he deems the present a 
fitting; occasion to make this known to the Governor of Texas, and 
through him to the people of the State at large. 
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. G. Mitchell, 
Bvt. Lieut.-Col., U. S. A., Sec'y for Civil Affairs. 



Oil elections by the people. 

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 
Office of Secretary for Civil Affairs, 
New Orleans, La., December 28, 1867. 

Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. Wood, Commanding District of Louisiana, 
New Orleans, La. : 

Colonel — I am directed by the Major-General Commanding to 
acknowledge receipt of a letter from Nelson Durand, (forwarded by 
you,) stating that the Treasurer of Avoyelles Parish, La., caused an 
election to be held to ascertain if the citizens of the township were in 
favor of selling a school section belonging to the parish, and request- 
ing an opinion as to the legality of said election. 

In reply to said letter, I am directed by him to state that if the 
provisions of the law were complied with in regard to advertisements, 
the manner of taking the sense of the inhabitants, and legal voters 
only were admitted to take part, there seems to be no reason why the 
action should be considered a nullity. It was not, properly speaking, 
an election, but a way prescribed by law of arriving at the will of the 
community as regards the disposition to be made of certain school 
lands belonging to the parish. 

The previous authorization of the Major-General Commanding is 
not considered necessary. But if the sense of the people was not duly 
regarded, (on the previous occasion,) as to the foregoing requirements, 
the matter should be again referred to them for a free and legal ex- 
pression of their opinion. 

J am, Colonel, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. G. Mitchell, 
Bvt. Lieut.-Col., U. S. A., Sec'y for Civil Affairs 



22 

On removals from office without judicial investigation 
and determination. 

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 
Office of Secretary for Civil Affairs, 
New Orleans, La., December 30, 1867. 
His Excellency B. F. Flanders, Governor of Louisiana : 

Governor — I am directed by the Major-General Commanding to 
acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the. 11th inst., with 
papers and documents accompanying the same, charging the Police 
Jury, Parish of Orleans, right bank, with appropriating to their own 
use and benefit the public funds of said parish, and with being per- 
sonally interested in contracts let by them, and recommending the 
removal from office of the president and members of said Police 
Jury ; and, in reply, to state that these charges present a proper case 
for judicial investigation and determination ; and as it is evident to 
him that the courts of justice can afford adequate relief for the 
wrongs complained of, if proved to exist, the Major-General Command- 
ing has concluded that it is not advisable to resort to the measures 
suggested in your excellency's communication. 

I am, Governor, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. G. Mitchell, 
Bvt. Lieut. -Col., U. S. A., Sec'y for Civil Affairs. 



Order of General Hancoch disclaiming judicial 
functions in civil cases. 

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 

General Orders') . t _ _ T , 1CPD 

»r -i > New Orleans, La., January 1, lboo. 

Applications have been made at these headquarters implying the 
existence of an arbitrary authority in the Commanding General touch- 
ng purely civil controversies. 

One petitioner solicits this action, another that, and each refers to 
some special consideration of grace or favor which he supposes to 
exist, and which should influence this Department. 

The number of such applications and the waste of time they involve, 

make it necessary to declare that the administration of civil justice 

appertains to the regular courts. The rights of litigants do not 

depend on the views of the general — they are to be adjudged and 

i"(l according to the laws. Arbitrary power, such as he has been 



23 

uro-ed to assume, has no existence here. It is not found in the laws 
of Louisiana or of Texas — it cannot be derived from any act or acts 
of Congress — it is restrained by a constitution and prohibited from 
action in many particulars. 

The Major-General Commanding takes occasion to repeat that 
while disclaiming judicial functions in civil cases, he can suffer no 
forcible resistance to the execution of process of the courts. 

By command of Major-General Hancock. 
[Official.] 



Communication concerning an application by a rail- 
road company. 

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT 
Office of Secretary for Civil Affairs, 

New Orleans, La., January 2, 1868. 

Henry Van Vleet, Esq., Chief Engineer : 

Sir — In reply to your communication, requesting the Major-Gen- 
eral Commanding to issue a certain order relative to the New Orleans, 
Mobile, and Chattanooga Railroad Company, I am directed by him 
to state : 

That the order asked for embraces questions of the most important 
and delicate nature, such as the exercise of the right of eminent do- 
main, obstruction of navigable rivers or outlets, etc., and it appears to 
him very questionable whether he ought to deal with questions of 
that kind ; nor is it clear that any benefit could result to the company 
from such an order. 

So far as the State of Louisiana is concerned, there can be no diffi- 
culty in obtaining a decree of appropriation of the land which may 
be required for the enterprise, according to the existing laws, as the 
company has been regularly incorporated under the general corpora- 
tion act. Be this, however, as it may, the question of •power, which 
the company desires solved by the proposed order, belongs properly 
to the judiciary, and therefore the Major-General Commanding declines 
to take action in this matter. 

If you desire, the papers in this case, together with a copy of this 
letter, will be forwarded to the Secretary of War. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. G. Mitchell, 
Bvt. Lieut-Col. U. S. A., Sec'y for Civil Affairs. 



24 

Order of General Hancock r evoking certain instruc- 
tions issued by his predecessor to the Board of Re- 
gistration. 

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 

° ENE No 3 RDERS } NEW 0rleans > La " Januai T 11. 1868. 

Printed " Memoranda of disqualifications for the guidance of the 
Boards of Registrars, under the Military Bill passed March 2, 1867, 
and the Bill supplementary thereto," and " Questions to be answered 
by persons proposing to register," were distributed from these head- 
quarters in the month of May, 1867, to the members of the Boards of 
Registration, then in existence in the States of Louisiana and Texas, 
for the registration of "the male citizens of the United States" who are 
qualified to vote for delegates under the act entitled " An act to pro- 
vide for the more efficient government of the Rebel States." 

These " Memoranda " and " Questions " are as follows : . . . 

[The Memoranda, being lengthy, are omitted.] 

Grave differences of opinion exist among the best informed and most 
conscientious citizens of the United States, and the highest function- 
aries of the National Government, as to the proper construction to 
be given to the acts of Congress prescribing the qualifications entitling 
persons to be registered as voters, and to exercise the right of suffrage 
at the elections to be holden under the act entitled " An act to provide 
for the more efficient government of the Rebel States " and the acts 
supplementary thereto. Such differences of opinion are necessary in- 
cidents to the imperfection of human language when employed in the 
work of legislation. 

Upon examining those acts, the Commanding General finds himself 
constrained to dissent from the construction given to them in the 
" Memoranda " referred to. This construction would of course neces- 
sarily exclude all officers holding offices created under special acts of 
the State Legislatures, including all officers of municipal corpora- 
tions, and of institutions organized for the dispensation of charity, 
under the authority of such special laws. Such a construction, in the 
opinion of the Major-General Commanding, has no support in the 
language of the acts of Congress passed on the 2d and the 23d of 
March, 1867, which were the only acts in existence when these 
" Memoranda" were distributed. Since that time, however, what was 
before, in the opinion of the Commanding General, only an error of 
construction, would now be a contravention of the law, as amended 
and defined in the act of July 19, 1867. 

The Major-General Commanding also dissents from various other 



25 

points in the construction given to the disqualifying clauses of' the acts 
in question, as shown by the "Memoranda" referred to, but he will 
add nothing further to what he has already said on the subject, be- 
cause his individual opinions cannot rightfully have, and ought not to 
have, any influence upon the Boards of Registration in the discharge 
of the duties expressly imposed upon and intrusted to them by these 
acts of Congress as they now stand. The Boards of Registration are 
bodies created by law with certain limited but well-defined judicial 
powers. It is made their especial duty " to ascertain, upon such facts 
as they can obtain, whether any person applying is entitled to be re- 
gistered" under the acts. Their decisions upon the cases of individual 
applicants are final as to the right, unless appeals are taken, in the 
proper form, and carried before competent superior authority for revi- 
sion ; and, like the members of ordinary courts engaged in the' exercise 
of judicial functions, it is the bounden duty of the members of the 
Boards of Registration to decide upon the questions as to the right of 
any applicant, on the facts before them, and in obedience to the pro- 
visions of the law. 

Since the passage of the act of July 19, 1867, it is not only the 
right, but the solemn duty of the members of these Boards, each for 
himself, and under the sanction of his oath of office, to interpret the 
provisions of the acts from which the authority of the Boards was 
derived, and to decide upon each case according to the best of his own 
judgment. 

The distribution of the above " Memoranda " was well calculated to 
produce the impression in the minds of tjie members of Boards of 
Registration, that they constituted rules prescribed to them for their 
government in the discharge of their official duties which they were 
required to obey; and it seems certain from various communications of 
facts in relation to the mode of carrying out the registration, that they 
were so regarded by the members of the Boards, and that they not 
only influenced, but in point of fact, controlled the proceedings of the 
different Boards. 

In consequence of this, and as the time for the revision of the regis- 
tration in the State of Texas is now at hand, and the duty of making 
the revision will, it is probable, in a great degree be performed by 
persons who are members of the Boards of Registration, to which the 
" Memoranda " in question were distributed for their guidance, the 
Major-General Commanding deems it of importance that the members 
of the Boards of Registration, and the people at large, should be in- 
formed that the " Memoranda " before referred to, distributed from the 
headquarters of this Military District, are null and of no effect, and ire 
not now to be regarded by the Boards of Registration in making their 



26 

decisions ; and that the members of the Boards are to look to the laws, 
and to the laws alone, for the rules which are to govern them in the 
discharge of the delicate and important duties imposed upon them. 

For this purpose they will be furnished with copies of the acts of 
Congress relating to this subject, and of the amendment (known as 
Article XIV.) to the Constitution of the United States. 

In case of questions arising as to the right of any individual to be 
registered, the person deeming himself aggrieved is entitled to his 
appeal from the decision of the Board, and the Boards are directed to 
make a full statement of the facts in such cases, and to forward the 
same to these headquarters without unnecessary delay. 

By command of Major-General Hancock. 
[Official.] 



Order for convening a special civil court for the trial 
of criminal cases. 

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 
SPE °No ( J EDBM \ New Orleans, La., January 2, 1868. 

[extract.] 

3. Whereas, the presence of an epidemic at Corpus Christi has pre- 
vented the holding of the usual term of the District Court of Nueces 
County, Texas; and 

Whereas, a large number of criminal cases are on the docket of said 
court that should be tried "without delay : 

It is therefore ordered, that a special term of the District Court for 
Nueces County shall be held on Monday, the thirteenth day of Jan- 
uary, 1868, for the trial of all criminal cases that may be brought 
before it. 

Such court shall continue in session for three weeks, unless the busi- 
ness before it is sooner disposed of. 

All process in criminal cases shall be, and they are hereby made, 
returnable to the said special term of said court. 

The proper officers of that county will cause the usual number of 
jurymen to be drawn and summoned. 

By command of Major-General Hancock. 
[Official.] 



27 
Concerning the levy of a special tax, 

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 
Office of Secretary for Civil Affairs, 

New Orleans, La., January 12, 1868. 

His Excellency E. M. Pease, Governor of Texas, Austin, Texas : 

Governor — I am directed by the Major-General Commanding to 
acknowledge the receipt of your letter and accompanying documents, 
relative to an application from the Mayor and City Council of Hous- 
ton, for authority to hold an election to determine whether a special 
tax shall be levied for the purpose of raising means with which to cut 
a ship's channel to Galveston Bay, and to state that if the power to 
hold such election was not conferred upon the city of Houston by its 
act of incorporation, nor by any act of the Legislature, no such election, 
and no tax levied for such a purpose, would be legal. 

I am, Governor, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. G. Mitchell, 
Bvt. Lieut.-Col., U. S. A., Sec'y for Civil Affairs. 



Relating to the collection of taxes. 

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 
Office of Secretary for Civil Affairs, 

New Orleans, La., January 15, 1868. 

H. Peralta, Esq., Auditor of Public Accounts, New Orleans, La. : 

Sir — I am directed by the Major-General Commanding to ac- 
knowledge receipt of your letter of the 13th inst., in which you state 
that " the taxes imposed by the Constitutional Convention cannot be 
collected through the ordinary process of collecting taxes in this State," 
and " refer the whole matter to him for his action ; " and in reply to 
state that the tax-collectors of the parishes of Orleans and Jefferson, 
in their report to you of the same date, say that "the taxpayers have 
generally refused to pay the tax." By reference to the ordinance of 
the convention, you will find "that the Auditor of Public Accounts 
of the State shall, as under existing laws in relation to the collection 
of taxes, superintend and control the collection of said tax of one mill 
per cent., and shall give immediate notice and instructions to the dif- 
ferent sheriffs and tax-collectors." 

It does not appear, from your statement, that any process for 
the collection of this tax has issued, or that any other steps have 
been taken, except giving notice in the newspapers, and a demand to 



28 

pay which has been refused. No resort has been made to those coer- 
cive means to enforce the payment of taxes pointed out by the laws 
of the State; this it is your duty to direct the tax-collector to do. 
When that is done, and forcible resistance should be made, the Major- 
General Commanding will, upon it being reported to him, take prompt 
measures to vindicate the supremacy of the law. 
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. G. Mitchell, 
Bvt. Lieut.-Col., U. S. A., Sec'y for Civil Affairs. 



Relating to the collection of taxes. 

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 
Office of Secretary for Civil Affairs, 

New Orleans, La., January 21, 1868. 

Hon. Wm. P. McMillan and Hon. M. Vidal, Special Committee : 

Gentlemen — The Major-General Commanding directs me to 
acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 17th instant, and to state 
in reply that the second ordinance of the Constitutional Convention 
adopted on the 4th of January, 1868, provides a new mode for the 
collection of the tax, and imposes penalties on defaulting taxpayers. 

You request the Commanding General to state what his action 
would be should the civil courts of Louisiana interfere with the col- 
lectors in the discharge of their duties. 

In this connection the Commanding General deems it unnecessary 
to repeat what he has already stated in reply to a previous letter con- 
cerning his authority on this subject. 

It would be highly improper for him to anticipate any illegal in- 
terference of the courts in the matter. 

Whenever a case arises for the interposition of the powers vested in 
the Commanding General by the acts of Congress, he will promptly 
exercise them for the maintenance of law and order. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. G. Mitchell, 
Bvt. Lieut.-Col., U. S. A., Sec'y for Civil Affairs 



29 

Letter of General Hancock to General Howard on the 
usurpations of the Freedmen's Bureau. 

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 
New Orleans, La., February 24, 1868. 

Major-General O. O. Howard, Commissioner of Bureau Refugees, 
Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, Washington, D. C. : 

General — Referring to the report of Captain E. Collins, Seven- 
teenth Infantry, sub-assistant commissioner of the Bureau, refugees, 
freedmen, and abandoned lands, at Brenham, Texas, dated December 
31, 1867, and transmitted by you for my information, I have the 
honor to state that I do not understand how any orders of mine can 
be interpreted as interfering with the proper execution of the law 
creating the Bureau. It is certainly not my intention that they should 
so interfere. Anything complained of in that letter, which could have 
lawfully been remedied by the exercise of military authority, should 
have received the action of General Reynolds, who, being military 
commander, and also Assistant Commissioner for Texas, was the pro- 
per authority to apply the remedy, and to that end was vested with 
the necessary power. 

A copy of the report of Captain Collins had already been forwarded 
to me by General Reynolds before the receipt of your communication, 
and had been returned to him January 16th, with the following in- 
dorsement: "Respectfully returned to Brevet Major-General J. J. 
Reynolds, commanding District of Texas. 

" This paper seems to contain only vague and indefinite complaints, 
without specific action as to any particular cases. If Captain Collins 
has any special cases of the nature referred to in his communication, 
which require action at these headquarters, he can transmit them, and 
they will receive attention." 

No reply has been received to this — a proof either of the non-ex- 
istence of such special cases, or of neglect of duty on the part of Cap- 
tain Collins in not reporting them. It is, and will be my pleasure as 
well as duty, to aid you and the officers and agents under your direc- 
tion, in the proper execution of the law. I have just returned from a 
trip to Texas. Whilst there I passed through Brenham twice, and 
saw Captain Collins, but neither from him nor from General Reynolds 
did I hear anything in regard to this subject, so far as I recollect. 

There are numerous abuses of authority on the part of certain agents 
of the Bureau in Texas, and General Reynolds is already investigating 
some of them. 

My intention is to confine the agents of the Bureau within their 
legitimate authority, so far as my power as district commander ex- 



30 

tends ; further than that, it is not my intention or desire to interfere 
with the Freedmen's Bureau. I can say, however, that had the dis- 
trict commander a superior control over the freedmen's affairs in the 
district, the Bureau would be as useful, and would work more harmo- 
niously, and be more in favor with the people. At present there is a 
clashing of authority. I simply mention the facts without desiring 
any such control. 

The Reconstruction Acts charge district commanders with the duty 
of protecting all persons in their rights of person and property ; and 
to this end authorize them to allow local civil tribunals to take juris- 
diction of, and try offenders ; or if in their opinion necessary, to or- 
ganize a military commission or tribunals for that purpose. 

They are thus given control over all criminal proceedings for vio- 
lation of the statute laws of the States, and for such other offences as 
are not by law made triable by the United States courts. The Recon- 
struction Acts exempt no class of persons from their operation, and the 
duty of protecting all persons in their rights of person and property, 
of necessity invests district commanders with control over the agents 
of the Bureau, to the extent of at least enabling them to restrain these 
agents from any interference with, or disregard of their prerogatives as 
district commanders. 

The district commanders are made responsible for the preservation 
of peace and the enforcement of the local laws "within their districts ; 
and they are the ones required to designate the tribunals before which 
those who break the peace and violate these laws shall be tried. 

Such being the fact, many of the agents of the Bureau seem not to 
be aware of it. In Texas some are yet holding courts, trying cases, 
imposing fines, taking fees for services, and arresting citizens for of- 
fences over which the Bureau is not intended by law to have jurisdic- 
tion. 

General Reynolds is aware of some of these cases, and is, as I have 
already mentioned, giving his attention tc them. 

In Louisiana, this state of affairs exist? to a less extent, if at all. 

I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. S. Hancock, 
Major-General U. S. Army, Commanding. 

About the date of the preceding letter, however, the time had 
arrived when it was thought necessary by the controlling powers at 
Washington to get rid of General Hancock's administration in Louis- 
iana ami Texas, it being deemed an obstacle in the way of the Con- 
gressional plan of reconstruction. General Garfield, the chairman of 



31 

the Military Committee in the House of Representatives, introduced a 
bill to reduce the number of major-generals in the army with the 
avowed object of getting rid of Hancock. This bill, however, was 
never pressed to its passage, being deemed by those friendly to its 
object as too likely to excite a popular demonstration in favor of the 
persecuted individual. 

A safer method was adopted. General Grant, having been in- 
vested by Congress with extraordinary powers, so as to be no longer 
responsible to the President, his constitutional commander-in-chief, 
was induced to interfere in such manner with General Hancock's 
official action as to humiliate him before the people he was sent to 
govern. This naturally soon led to General Hancock's application to 
be relieved of his command. 

About this time he wrote to a friend in Congress, as follows : 

. . . " I hope to be relieved here soon. The President is no longer 
able to protect me. So that I may expect one humiliation after 
another, until I am forced to resign. I am prepared for any event. 
Nothing can intimidate me from doing what I believe to be honest 
and right." 

Soon afterward he wrote the following official letter : 

HEADQUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 
New Orleans, February 27, 18G8. 

To Brevet Major-General L. Thomas, Adjutant-General, U. S. A., 
Washington, D. C. : 

General — I have the honor to transmit herewith, copies of my 
correspondence with the General-in-chief, in reference to my recent 
action concerning the removal from office of certain aldermen and 
assistant aldermen of the Council of the city of New Orleans, made 
by me, " for contempt of the orders of the district commander." 

I request that the same may, in the appropriate manner — as ex- 
planatory of my action, and for his information — be laid before his 
Excellency the President of the United States, with this, my request, 
to be relieved from the command of this military district, where it is 
no longer useful or agreeable for me to serve. 

When relieved, should the exigencies of the service permit, it would 
be most in accordance with my inclinations to be sent to Saint Louis, 
Missouri, there to await further orders. 

I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

W. S. Hancock, 
Major-General U. S. Army. 






32 



On the 16th of March, 1868, he was relieved of his command at 
New Orleans. 

New Orleans was the place where, once before, a soldier, who had 
won renown in the field, crowned himself with immortal fame by his 
obedience to the laws. General Andrew Jackson, by his victory over 
the British, attracted the admiration of the people ; but it was his 
respect for the civil laws which showed them he was fit to be 
President. 






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